India and the Maldives on Friday agreed to set up a core group to further deepen their partnership as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 'productive' meeting with newly-elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and discussed ways to enhance the bilateral friendship across diverse sectors.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold separate bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang and Russia's Sergey Lavrov at a beach resort in Goa on Thursday on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) amid rapidly evolving regional security situation.
India's trade with Nordic countries stands at over USD 5 billion (2020-21) and a cumulative FDI of over USD 3 billion (April 2000- March 2021).
'The strategic direction of the relationship will not be affected. But the perception has been affected.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka is expected to yield at least 10 ambitious outcomes, including a defense cooperation agreement and frameworks for deeper engagement in the energy sector. The visit comes at a time when Sri Lanka is recovering from an economic crisis, with India providing significant financial assistance. Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will also dedicate several projects built with India's assistance and virtually inaugurate the Sampur solar energy project.
In addition to participating in the swearing-in ceremony, the leaders will attend a banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, it said.
The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Zaka Ashraf, on Sunday, said that resumption of bilateral ties with neighbours India will take some time.
The PTF chief said there was a deadline for the AITA to send final arrival confirmation and if they didn't travel to Pakistan the International Tennis Federation (ITF) would consider the Davis Cup tie as forfeited, awarding full points to the hosts.
India and China held diplomatic talks in Beijing, focusing on effective border management and the resumption of cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including on trans-border rivers and the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra. The meeting explored measures and proposals to implement decisions made during the Special Representatives (SR) dialogue in December. Both sides agreed to work together for the next SR meeting in India later this year.
The last batch of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives have been repatriated, confirmed Heena Waleed, President's Office Chief Spokesperson told Sun.mv news portal, without giving the number of Indian soldiers.
The Indian side, led by former foreign ministry secretary Vivek Katju and included well-known educationist J S Rajput and other experts, met ex-Pakistan foreign secretary Inamul Haque.
European Union (EU) companies operating in India want New Delhi to streamline or remove non-tariff barriers such as Quality Control Orders (QCOs), complex Customs procedures; simplify labelling, testing, and import procedures; and facilitate cross-border digital transactions without data localisation constraints. These are results of a Business Sentiment Survey, 2025 conducted by the Federation of European Business in India (FEBI) ahead of resumption of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between both the sides scheduled to be concluded by year-end.
New United States Secretary of State John Kerry has called up External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid who said India was looking forward to take the bilateral ties to a higher level encompassing diverse sectors.
The exchange of the list took place under the provisions of an agreement on the prohibition of attack against nuclear installations and facilities, the ministry of external affairs said.
'By his words, actions, and body language during their joint press appearance wanted to convey his personal respect and, more broadly, his desire to work closely with India.'
Jaishankar said full restoration and maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas was essential for the development of the bilateral ties.
In their first structured bilateral talks in nearly five years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday agreed that India and China can have a 'peaceful and stable' relationship by displaying maturity and mutual respect and endorsed the pact on the resolution of the dragging eastern Ladakh border row.
'And America will invite India in to have really an extraordinary opportunity and relationship with us.'
Disengagement from the LAC will remain a chimera because China has given enough indications that the PLA will not move back any more. China has even deployed drones to monitor and deny any patrolling by Indian troops even in the buffer zones which are all in Indian Territory, explains Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Pakistan-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the prime minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Santo Domingo on his first official visit to the Dominican Republic, also said that India has seen a dramatic expansion in connectivity, contacts, and cooperation across the region.
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the extradition of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana to India and said he will face justice.
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The PCB chairman Shahryar Khan has expressed disappointment over BCCI's lukewarm response to the resumption of the bilateral ties between the two countries.
India and China have agreed to work towards a "roadmap" for rebuilding mutual trust following the border standoff in eastern Ladakh, according to a statement from the Indian Defence Ministry. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Vientiane, Laos, on the sidelines of a regional security conclave. Singh called for drawing lessons from the "unfortunate border clashes" of 2020 and emphasized the need for cooperation rather than conflict. Both sides agreed to work towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding, and a meeting of the Special Representatives and Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism will also take place soon.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has said that Beijing regards its relationship with New Delhi as one of the most important bilateral ties.
As India and China marked the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties, Beijing on Thursday said the two sides have put "great emphasis" on developing a comprehensive strategic partnership and hoped to cement it further during External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's visit next week.
The United States has handed over to India 297 antiquities, which were smuggled out of the country, during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement said on Sunday.
Sharif said the Kashmir issue is the bone of contention between the two neighbours and it will have to be resolved for peace and stability in the region.
During his just-concluded visit to China, Muizzu, regarded as a pro-China leader, sought to align Maldives closer to Beijing and both countries elevated their ties to a strategic partnership.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met United States President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday.
'A less tense US-China relationship would make Beijing less likely to provoke India -- including on the border -- in retaliation for its close defence ties with the US.'
'We should be mindful that the religious minority community in one country is the majority in another (and) so treatment of the minority community in our respective countries will be an important variable in our relationship'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the barbaric killing of Indian soldiers in Kashmir had cast a shadow on bilateral ties and asked Pakistan to create a conducive environment to take the normalisation process forward.
India and Iran on Monday signed a 10-year contract for the operation of a terminal at the strategically important Chabahar port in Iran, a move that will boost regional connectivity as well as trade ties. This is the first time India will take over the management of an overseas port that will also have a multiplier effect on trade among India, Iran and Afghanistan as efforts continue to directly tap the potential in Central Asia, bypassing neighbouring Pakistan.
In its annual threat assessment presented before the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, the US intelligence community said the expanded military posture by both India and China along the disputed border elevates the risk of armed confrontation between the two nuclear powers that might involve direct threats to US persons and interests and calls for America's intervention.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani for the release of eight Indian nationals, who were sentenced to death after being arrested in Doha in August 2022.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in Ufa on Friday after more than a year.
The meeting, which comes after the Doklam standoff, is aimed at a working a new paradigm for the bilateral relations for the next 15 years.
Dar also said Pakistan views Russia as an important player in the West, South and Central Asia, and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia remains an important priority for Pakistan's foreign policy.
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